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“Thiazolidinediones (TZDs), synthetic peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor ( PPAR)-gamma ligands, have a central role in insulin sensitization and adipogenesis. It has been reported that TZDs exert protective effects in both diabetic and nondiabetic
models of renal disease, although the exact mechanism is not well understood. In particular, only a few studies Anti-infection inhibitor have reported the renoprotective effects of TZDs in nondiabetic models of tubulointerstitial fibrosis and inflammation. Therefore, we investigated the anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of the TZD troglitazone in the mouse model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). C57BL/6J mice underwent UUO and were studied after 3 and 7 days. Animals were divided into three groups and received control vehicle, troglitazone ( 150 mg/kg per day) or troglitazone ( 300 mg/kg per day) by gavage. Kidneys were harvested for morphological, mRNA and protein analysis. Reverse-transcriptase-PCR
was used to assess the PKC412 expression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) and the TGF-beta 1 type I receptor (TGF beta R-I). Protein expression was assessed by western blotting (TGF beta R-I) and immunostaining (TGF beta R-I, alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA), type I collagen (collagen I), F4/80, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen ( PCNA)). The expression of alpha-SMA, collagen I, and F4/80 was decreased in mice treated with troglitazone compared with the control group. The numbers of PCNA-positive interstitial cells were decreased in mice treated with troglitazone. TGF-beta 1 mRNA and TGF beta R-I mRNA and during protein expression were decreased in the group treated with troglitazone compared with
the control group. The beneficial effects of troglitazone treatment were also dose dependent. PPAR-gamma agonist significantly reduced TGF-beta and attenuated renal interstitial fibrosis and inflammation in the model of UUO.”
“The current study aimed at investigating the processing of prosodic hierarchical boundaries in Mandarin Chinese sentences using electroencephalography, mainly focused on the following questions: (1) whether prosodic boundaries at different levels could evoke the closure positive shift reflecting prosodic boundary perception; (2) what were the differences between them at latency, amplitude and topography; (3) whether this positive component was modified by the variations of acoustic cues (e.g. pause).